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Year search: 2008
Judge: Digital Prawn [Official Site]

Barcode Hangman
Author	Unsatisfactory Software
Filename	barcode.zip
Year	2008
Position	99
Format	ZX Spectrum 16K & ZX81 16K
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Description	The barcode revolution of the latter half of the 20th century has undeniably become a cornerstone of our information age. Barcodes are now ubiquitous and found everywhere from tins of mushy peas to cannisters of nuclear waste. But apart from the serious side, you may not know that they have also had a great impact on popular culture too. From songs such as Barcode Bypass by Mull Historical Society, and books such as The Da-Vinci Barcode: A Parody. Now Unsatisfactory Software present this Barcode-themed game, Barcode Hangman!. In this game, ported to the speccy from an original ZX81 version, you must pit your wits against the computer in order to reveal the hidden barcode number. Make too many mistakes, and your number is up (or rather not up), but I'm sure you'll be dying to have another go! *Updated 05/04/08* - Unsatisfactory software have now provided the original ZX81 version of this game. It requires a 16K expansion pack and is now also available via the download link.
Comments	I actually think the barcode graphic in this game looks pretty damn good. Maybe I should get the barcode scanner from work and try it out on the emulator screen just to check that the generated codes to conform to the IEEE standards. Ahem, anyway, some crapness points were scored for making a port from the ZX81 to the Speccy whilst using zero of the speccy's features, making you think that you are still actually playing it on a ZX81. Also, the score was saved from being lower by the fact that it seems impossible to actually lose the game. (warning - expert crap game developers in the house). I see the BASIC code is there to lose the game, but can it actually be lost? I couldn't do it and I did try a few times! Quite possibly deserves a higher ranking, but judging this compo really is like trying to pour a quart (the submissions) into a pint pot (the high rankings) and this title was from a 1985 version!! Thanks for supplying the ZX81 version too though, the second one of only two in the compo.